February 2012 January 2012
Press Release: HHS Announces Intent to
Delay ICD-10 Compliance Date As part of President Obama’s commitment to reducing regulatory burden, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen G. Sebelius announced that HHS will initiate a process to postpone the date by which certain health care entities have to comply with International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition diagnosis and procedure codes (ICD-10). The final rule adopting ICD-10 as a standard was published in January 2009 and set a compliance date of October 1, 2013 – a delay of two years from the compliance date initially specified in the 2008 proposed rule. HHS will announce a new compliance date moving forward.
OIG Alerts Physicians to Use Heightened Scrutiny of Entities Prior to Reassigning Their Medicare Payments because they may be liable for false claims submitted by entities to which they reassigned their Medicare benefits. Physicians should carefully evaluate these entities and ensure that they are legitimate providers or suppliers of health care items and services.
Providers experiencing denials for non-ADI accreditation will see remark code N290 on their remittance advice for claims submitted for or including the technical component of an ADI procedure. More information on the ADI accreditation requirements and procedures MLN Matters® Article SE1122
On February 16, CMS released a national provider comparative billing report (CBR) addressing advanced diagnostic imaging. CBRs contain actual data-driven tables and graphs with an explanation of findings that compare a provider’s billing and payment patterns to those of their peers located in their state and across the nation. This link provides more information or you can call the SafeGuard Services’ Provider Help Desk, CBR Support Team at 530-896-7080. 1